U.S. Tells Congress It Lacks Legal Basis to Strike Inside Venezuela as Naval Campaign Expands

Overview

• In a closed briefing, senior officials told lawmakers the U.S. is not planning attacks inside Venezuela and currently has no legal justification for a ground offensive.
• Officials said the execution order authorizing operations against suspected drug-smuggling boats does not extend to land targets in Venezuela or elsewhere.
• Justice Department and White House legal teams are drafting opinions, with a reported OLC list identifying 24 Latin American cartels eligible for targeting at sea.
• President Trump has privately questioned whether airstrikes would unseat Nicolás Maduro and has not decided between regime change and extracting concessions.
• U.S. forces have intensified maritime strikes, including a recent Navy action that destroyed a boat in the eastern Pacific and killed two, as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group positions in the Caribbean.